The Chronicle: Issue 2015-40, October 6, 2015


What's Going Through The Intersection of Insurance and Technology?

Are you Competing with a Robot to Keep Your Job?
In your current job, have you ever asked yourself, “Could I be replaced by a machine?” If not, you might want to pay attention to advances in robotics. There is risk, and there is hope. However, hope seems to require embracing the inevitable incursion of machine intelligence on our intellectual turf.

A 2013 study undertaken by Deloitte and Oxford University, on the susceptibility of various jobs to computerisation, developed a model and normalized professional jobs which allowed for the rank ordering of 702 jobs based on the probability that the job would be computerized. Jobs with low probability of machine replacement included recreational therapists, first-line supervisors of mechanics, occupational therapists, and healthcare social workers. High replacement probability jobs included telemarketers, mathematical technicians, insurance processing clerks, and insurance underwriters.

Insurance Underwriters? Yes. According to the researchers, automobile insurance appraisers, claims adjusters and insurance agents had a better chance than underwriters. Cue the fear and loathing.

The Intersection: Insurance-Canada.ca Blog
The Intersection

an Insurance-Canada.ca Blog


Business of Insurance

Industrial Alliance agrees to acquire privately-owned CTL Corporation
Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. has announced an agreement to acquire Ontario-based CTL Corp., the largest privately-owned consumer vehicle finance company in Canada. The transaction was completed on October 2, 2015.

Towers Watson Develops Financial Modeling Application for Canadian Property & Casualty Insurers
Global professional services company Towers Watson has announced the development of an application within its Igloo financial modeling suite specifically tailored for property & casualty insurers in Canada. This application is designed to help Canadian insurers efficiently use comprehensive, full-function models to help better manage risk and capital based on International Financial Reporting Standards in Canada, or on an economic basis.

Gartner and ACORD joint study: Most insurers unprepared for the coming industry transformation
Most property & casualty and life insurers underestimate the disruption coming from future industry conditions and are not prepared to respond to new threats, according to a joint survey conducted by Gartner, Inc. and ACORD. The survey, conducted in the second quarter of 2015 by Gartner and the nonprofit insurance industry standards association ACORD of 104 insurance leaders in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., found that that most did not feel that any particular industry trend was reshaping the industry overall, but various ones had significant and moderate impact on the business.

Technology

SS&C survey: Most large insurers to increase use of cloud and co-sourcing services over next five years
SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc., a leading global provider of financial services software and software-enabled services, today reported the results of its Global Insurance Asset Management Technology Outlook survey – looking at the changes large insurers plan to make over the next five years. The survey of 100 insurance executives from around the world, conducted in the second quarter of 2015, identified the prevailing trends among large insurance firms.

Xpertdoc expands partnership with e-SignLive by Silanis to become reseller
Xpertdoc Technologies Inc., a Microsoft Gold Partner and leader in document generation and customer communications solutions, has announced that it has expanded its partnership with e-SignLive™ by Silanis by becoming a reseller and contracting directly with clients on behalf of e-SignLive.

Policy Management

InEdge shares the top 5 Quality of Service challenges facing underwriting managers
Occupying a critical position in the insurance value chain, underwriting receives a well-deserved amount of focus from attentive underwriting managers and executives. As they seek to improve sales and profitability, they need up-to-date information measuring the quality of services offered to brokers, agents, and clients. Read on for the top five questions underwriting managers should be asking in order to tackle the biggest underwriting quality of service challenges head-on.

Oceanwide unveils results of its sponsored core system modernization research
Oceanwide, an Insurity company and developer of industry-leading, completely configurable, SaaS insurance software, has announced the results of its recently sponsored research project on property and casualty core system modernization. Conducted by Novarica Research Partners Program and documented in the Core System Modernization: Approaches and Options report, the research effort focused on a survey of midsize P&C insurers to gain their perspectives and preferences on approaches and options for core system modernization. CIOs were asked for their perspective on modernization process, key drivers for vendor and approach selection, how their choice of approach impacted the project, and the value and impact of the effort.

Marketing

eMarketer: Marketers notice benefits from Big Data
There's no such thing as a free lunch, and harnessing data for better marketing and business results is no exception. It costs time and resources to get, maintain, understand and use data – but decision-makers worldwide are seeing a benefit. In spring 2015, Forbes Insights surveyed senior data and IT decision-makers about what their firms were doing with big data. For most, big data and analytics were a significant business priority. And many respondents had already noticed an effect on revenues.

Distribution

Joint Venture Creates New Canadian Insurance Brokerage, Moore-McLean Gateway Insurance Group Ltd.
Moore-McLean Insurance Group Ltd. of Toronto, Ontario and Gateway Insurance Group of Halifax, Nova Scotia today announced the formation of a new joint venture company, Moore-McLean Gateway Insurance Group. With offices in Halifax and Toronto, Moore-McLean Gateway (MMG) will leverage the considerable expertise and market clout of Moore-McLean with Gateway's deep business and community relationships to target large commercial accounts in Nova Scotia and throughout Atlantic Canada.

The Co-operators acquires Browning Insurance Ltd.
Co-operators General Insurance Company has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary has purchased Browning Insurance Ltd. in Chatham, Ontario. The brokerage's portfolio includes personal and commercial insurance policies. Current clients of the brokerage will be notified of the change in ownership and their existing insurance coverage will remain in effect with no changes to their premiums or coverage for the current term of their policies. As current policies expire, clients will be offered comparable policies from The Co-operators.

SGI CANADA Obtains CSIO certification for Commercial Lines eDocs
The Centre for Study of Insurance Operations is pleased to announce that SGI CANADA has obtained CSIO Certification for Commercial Lines eDocs. As a means of making business easier for commercial customers and helping brokers retain their commanding commercial market share of over 90%, CSIO has expanded its eDocs certification program to specifically certify eDocs for commercial lines. CSIO Certification is available to member companies and vendors.

Consumer Information

Boston Consulting Group: Driver Assistance Technologies could save 10,000 lives and (CAD) 250 billion each year
If widely adopted, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) could generate tremendous benefits to society, sharply reducing the number, cost, and severity of automotive accidents, says a new study from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). ADAS could prevent 28 percent of all crashes in the United States if new-car buyers invested in the most common currently available ADAS features. BCG found that the technologies could prevent approximately 9,900 fatalities and save about 251 billion CAD each year, more than twice the amount that the federal government spends on education annually.

SGI and police targeting distracted drivers throughout October
Distracted driving is the traffic safety spotlight for October. Police around Saskatchewan will be watching for drivers using cellphones or taking their attention off the road while eating, grooming, setting a GPS, refereeing children, etc. Twenty-six people were killed and nearly 600 were injured last year in more than 3,300 collisions in Saskatchewan related to distracted driving, which often includes cellphone use behind the wheel. It is the top contributing factor in collisions overall.

Allstate Canada survey: Canadians skeptical about usage-based insurance
Many Canadians have embraced new automotive technology offerings because of perceived benefits, but when it comes to modernized auto insurance programs such as usage-based insurance (UBI), which involves in-vehicle telematics devices measuring driver habits, such as hard braking, Canadians appear to be making erroneous assumptions. Research conducted by Leger on behalf of Allstate Canada revealed a significant amount of confusion across the country about the potential benefits of usage-based insurance, the impact of in-vehicle telematics on insurance premiums, and how auto insurance companies handle the privacy and data of participants.

RBC Insurance survey on the financial impact of becoming disabled
While Canadians may be savvier than ever when it comes to planning their financial futures, many workers are not taking the time to discuss the financial impacts of becoming disabled. According to a recent RBC Insurance survey, 95 per cent of working Canadians agreed that a disability could happen at any time, yet 67 per cent have not discussed with their family how they would face the financial impacts if they could not work due to a disability. These are important conversations to have, considering that 43 per cent of working households have had someone take off time due to disability, and that 72 per cent of Canadians would face serious financial implications if off work for three months.

THiA survey reveals what Canadians don't know about their travel health insurance
Canadians need to better understand their travel health insurance policies if they want to ensure they aren't in debt for out-of-country medical expenses, based on findings from a Travel Health Insurance Association (THiA) survey. Forty-seven per cent of respondents have never reviewed their policies even though 23 per cent have required medical care while travelling. A survey of Canadian travel insurance providers shows that more than 95.3 per cent of travel health claims are successfully paid. THiA wants to see this number increase. This year's survey was designed to identify the public's understanding of common factors – including hiking, intoxication, blood tests, and late-term pregnancy – that can lead to a claim being denied.


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